A roving exhibition, "A Photo Exhibition on the Life of Deng Xiaoping: the Founder of China's Reform Programme and Open Policy", will run from next Monday (August 30) to September 4 at various venues in Hong Kong.

Presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and the Home Affairs Department, the exhibition aims at celebrating the birthday centenary of the great Chinese statesman Mr Deng Xiaoping.

As an epoch-making figure in 20th-century China, Mr Deng was crucial to the prospects of China and the Chinese people at large. Mr Deng not only played a major role in founding the People's Liberation Army, but he also made substantial contributions towards the establishment of the People's Republic of China. After 1949, he committed himself to China's economic reconstruction, and steered China out of the turmoil caused by the Cultural Revolution. A new path was set to build a socialist society with Chinese characteristics, laying a framework for China's long-term development.

With rich text panels and more than 80 invaluable historical photographs, the exhibition introduces the main stages of Mr Deng's life, including: family and birth; study abroad; dedication to party affairs; on the Long March; war against the Japanese aggression; civil war; reconstruction in the Southwest; general secretary of the party; years of the Cultural Revolution; end of confusion and deviations; reform programme and open policy; one country, two systems; worldwide diplomacy; smooth transition of power; and death.

Visitors to the exhibition will also see a chronology of Mr Deng's life and quotations from the leader.

Details of the dates and venues for the roving exhibition are as follows:

Date: August 30 to 31
Venue: Mass Transit Railway Hong Kong Station

Date: August 31 to September 2
Venue: Hong Kong Cultural Centre

Date: September 1 to 2
Venue: Olympian City 2, West Kowloon

Date: September 3 to 4
Venue: Tsuen Wan Plaza and New Town Plaza, Shatin

Meanwhile, a seminar on the 100th birthday of Deng Xiaoping presented by the Home Affairs Bureau will be held at 7.30pm on August 30 at the Grand Theatre of Hong Kong Cultural Centre. The four guest speakers, Member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, PRC, Mr Gordon Wu; the Executive Director of One Country Two Systems Research Institute, Mr Shiu Sin-por; Senior Counsel and the Chairman of the Basic Law Institute, Mr Alan Hoo; and Professor of the Department of Law, University of Hong Kong, Mr Albert Chen, will speak about Deng's experiences and thoughts relating to Hong Kong people and will discuss the essence of the idea of "one country, two systems".

The seminar, to be conducted in Cantonese, is open to the public and seats are on a first-come, first-served basis. Admission is free.